We Walk the Beaten Path
by Soomin
Summary: They were so close to the end that a few of them have actually begun to think about the ever after. However, Sabo warns the Strawhat crew that one of them will not make it to the afterwards if they go to Raftel, the crew thinks. It has always been pirate king or death. Not a single one thought that the "or" could one day be "and".
1. We Took the High Road

"We're almost there," Nami smiled as she drew the final touch on her map. The crew had since calmed down when they learned that all three needles were pointing in the same direction on the log pose. At first, they couldn't believe it. It had only been a few years since they set off, and there were pirates out there who have searched for Raftel for decades. Nami thought that they had somehow broken the log pose during their last adventure. However, it was when Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs that he was finally going to be the Pirate King that they too realized what it all meant.

While they haven't even made it to Raftel yet, it was a long time since they had a Straw Hat-only party, and Sanji was more than happy to obliged to cook for the occasion. The nine of them partied for the entire night and then woke up the next morning preparing for whatever challenges would happen next. At least, eight of them were. Luffy was still running around, talking everyone's ear off on how great it would be when they finally got to Raftel and how Raftel was probably some kind of meat island. This time, they all smiled endearingly as listened to their captain's senseless ramblings and agreed to whatever he said. How could they not? His dream was almost in their reach.

Behind the scenes, the crew discussed what was next on their agenda. There was still the All-Blue to find, getting back to Laboon at Reverse Mountain, and sharing the secrets of the Rio Poneglyph with the world. While there were some suggestions, it was ultimately up to Luffy on where they went next. Of course, all of this will have to come after Raftel was conqured.

Nami sat back on her chair and thought back to when she first met her captain. It felt like a lifetime ago. She didn't realize it, but making Luffy the pirate king had been her dream for a long time too, and now that it was almost in her reach, it was a surreal feeling. Nami wondered how Luffy would act after becoming the pirate king. As far as she knew, Luffy had always dreamed of being the pirate king. She has always assumed that he would be happy just sailing the world with his crew; he was always a simple kind of person.

However, Luffy without some kind of unreachable goal was a weird thing to say. He always had this drive to push forward, and now that he had it, what would happen then? Nami frowned. As much as she liked preparing for the future, this was getting a bit much. She refocused herself and stared at the map in front of her. Based on the current wave patterns, the best course of action would probably be going through this-

"Nami! We need you out here," Usopp yelled as he abruptly opened the door, knocking Nami out of her thoughts and concentration.

"It better be important," Nami practically growled out as she glared at Usopp.

"Captain's orders," Usopp explained and ran off towards the deck when he heard Luffy call his name as well.

Curious, Nami stood up and followed her friend out the cabin.

"NAMI!" Luffy called out as soon as the door opened. Had she been the girl from years ago, Nami probably would still freak out at the arm stretching towards her. Now, she was just wondering why her captain demanded her attention at this very moment. It wasn't like she was one to entertain Luffy when he got restless, and there was no way he was going to guilt-trip her into another game of tag again.

"Luffy," she warned, but allowed the arm to grab her anyways. Luffy hugged her tight, but he wasn't looking for her to beg for money like he normally did when he got like this. Instead, he was looking at another man in front of them who simply wore worried look.

"Are you okay, Miss?" he asked, slightly alarmed that Luffy just did that.

"Sabo! This is Nami, my navigator! She's the best navigator in the world, even if she's bit stingy," Luffy commented with a bitter look on his face.

"Hey now," she warned, hitting her captain on the head, causing him to let go of her to caress the bump on his head. "Do you want a share of the One Piece or not you idiot?" She expected another look of worry to appear on the man's face at what seemed to some as mutiny, but she was pleasantly surprised when all she saw instead was a nostalgic smile. There were only a few that understood the relationship Luffy had with people: friends and family. Since Nami knew all of Luffy's odd friends, that must meant that this man was-

"You must be Luffy's other brother, the revolutionary, right?" Nami asked with a smile.

The man in front of him took off his hat and lowered his head in a small bow. Nami held back the habit of smacking the boy on the head when she realized that he wasn't going to ask her the color of her panties. She had to remind herself that for some reason, Luffy's family had some of the best manners despite being related to Luffy. This man was most likely no different.

"Sabo, commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, at your service. It is a pleasure to meat you, Miss. Nami," he introduced politely. Luffy snickered and made some kind of comment at how snooty Sabo was. In a single swift movement, Luffy was suddenly stuck in a headlock as Sabo smiled and asked if he was still the snooty older brother. Luffy laughed as he tried to escape, but Sabo kept a good grip on his brother.

"You wouldn't imagine that that boy is one of most feared men in all of the Grand Line," another voice commented from behind. Nami turned around to see another woman on the ship. Immediately, Nami's eyes lit up.

"Ah! Another woman on the ship, come on, we need to talk!" Nami grabbed the girl's hand without an introduction and took her to the table Robin was sitting at.

"W-Wait, I think Sabo needed to tell you somethi-"

"KOALA!" Nami tried to defend her new female friend from her captain's grasps, but once Luffy needed someone, no one could protect them. Torao had a lot of experience with that. With a sigh, Nami let the stretched arm wrap around Koala's waist and let it whisk her away. It was a shame, but she'll find time later to ask her how she got her hair to look so nice with a hat on. Nami simply waved and promised that she'll have Sanji cook something up for the three of them later.

"Whaaaaa?!" Koala yelled as she was pulled away. The young woman gave her blond partner the death glare as Sabo traded places with her. Sabo swallowed hard knowing he was going to pay for that stunt, but this was the only way he could get Luffy away from his crew. In an instant, Sabo had crossed arms with Nami and began guiding her to the kitchen. He paused for a second as he passed by Robin to grab her arm as well.

Nami was impressed with the amount of class Sabo was displaying. While Ace was polite, Sabo himself was the epitome of a gentleman. Nami was so distracted by the display that it took her a moment to realize that most of the crew was sitting around in the kitchen instead of playing around with Luffy. Sabo let both her and Robin go and beckoned them to sit next to their fellow crewmates as he positioned himself in front of the group.

"So Second-in-Command, what do you have to tell us?" Zoro asked as Nami settled in her seat next to Robin.

Sabo tried to smile, but it didn't quite shine as bright as it did when he was with Luffy. "Good. You guys can tell something is up," Sabo commented. "That's, that's good." He took a deep breath, and he looked at each crewmember in the eye. Stopping at Brook, he closed his eyes and quickly got to his hands and knees. A few raised an eyebrow at the scene.

"Please, I beg of you, do not let Luffy set foot on Raftel," Sabo pleaded, his voice finally breaking. The crew narrowed their eyes.

"Oi, that's a big request you got there," Frank commented, "Mind you, we're no revolutionaries: we're pirates. Your lil' bro is going to be the pirate king. What makes you think that you can come down onto our ship and make us stop our captain from getting what he wants?"

Sabo didn't answer. Tears began dropping from his face, but none took pity on the man. No one threatened their captain's dream that easily.

"Sabo-kun, why are you asking us of all people to not go to Raftel," Robin repeated gentler, her eyes furrowed as she tried to think of an answer herself.

Sitting up and wiping tears, Sabo looked at the group with fierce eyes. "Are any of you familiar with the Will of D?" he asked. Brook perked at the title, and Robin simply tilted her head.

"That is something I haven't heard about since I was alive," Brook commented quietly. Zoro inched closer to the skeleton, but he kept his attention on the older brother.

"I have heard of it, and I know Senchou-san possesses it, but what does this have to do with our final destination?" Robin asked. Sabo began laughing at the phrase.

"Final destination, that's a fitting title for it Robin-san," Sabo responded bitterly and stood up from his demeaning position. "They say long ago, there was a clan gifted with a curse. Those with the Will of D will be guaranteed to achieve their dream; however, it is at the cost of their own life. All members of this clan can be recognized with a 'D' as their middle name," Sabo waited to see if anyone reacted and frowned when no one did.

"If you go there," he clarified, "if you let Luffy achieve his dream of being the pirate king, then you better use that damned treasure to give him a good funeral."

Silence fell upon the crew. Some didn't quite understand the full extent of his words, and the rest didn't believe it. Usopp began laughing nervously.

"Luffy? He can't die. He literally fought God and lived to tell the tale, and I'm not just talking about me," Usopp argued, adding humor to lessen the mood. "There's nothing in this world, supernatural or not, that's going to kill Luffy or keep him from Raftel."

"That's true, God. I know Luffy better than any of you, and there's nothing that's going to keep him from his dream, but what happens after he becomes pirate king? Do you seriously think that you lot are enough to protect him?" Sabo said, and dug a few neatly folded pieces of paper from his pocket. He tossed them out to the group and sat dejectedly on a chair nearby. He leaned back on the chair and looked to the ceiling.

"Nutt D. John," Sabo began reciting, "he was said to have dreamed that the world was not flat, and went out proving scientifically prove it to the world. He was later found dead on the seabed a month after finally publishing his work and being accepted by the scientific community. William D. Knight: he was a slave out in the West Blue. His dream was to avenge his family and community his slavers destroyed. He was said to have died through disease a month after the slaving company completely disappeared. Gol D. Rogers: he dreamed of seeing everything the world had to offer, and he gathered it into what we all know now as the One Piece. He was executed three months after placing the treasure on Raftel," Sabo paused and looked at Robin who was still looking through all the papers.

"Jaguar D. Saul," he continued, and Robin looked up to stare him. "He dreamed of finally showing the humans that not all giants have to be large, tough, and brainless in order to be successful. He achieved the rank of vice-admiral three months before being physically removed by the marines on a small island called Ohara. Portgas D. Ace," Sabo waited a second as if the name personally pained him but quickly continued, "I personally know that it was his true dream to find a family that accepted him for who he was. He died months after the Whitebeard Pirates took him in.

"This pattern finally got so ridiculous that I actually went up to Dragon and asked him to explain these coincidences, but even he was unsure the true connection was. He didn't even know the significance of the initial or what the Will of D was. What he did know was that Monkey D. Garp has consistently turned down the promotion of becoming admiral despite having many accounts during marines training of him stating that he was going to become the best admiral out there," Sabo finished. He leaned forward to allow the chair to stand on all four legs. He looked to the crew and dared them to challenge him.

There was a moment of silence before a leg crashed and broke the table in front of the Straw Hats. Sanji stormed over to the revolutionary and picked him up by the collar. Sabo narrowed his eyes.

"Now you listen here, are you suggesting that we're just going to let some kind of stroke of fate take Luffy away from us? We've trained for two years to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. I don't care about the 'Will of D' or any other bullshit you're making up with these dumb connections of yours. Luffy is going to become the pi-"

"The pirate king," Sabo finished and grabbed Sanji's wrist. Without a word of warning, the hand quickly became fire. Sanji quickly released his grip, but Sabo did not extinguish the flames.

"Hey Mr. Zoro, tell me, how has Luffy's been faring in your fights lately? Yeah, he's strong, but you've noticed a slight lag in his step and how he beats you a little too quickly right when you noticed it? I saw that last fight, and a swordsman of your caliber must have noticed it," Zoro flinched at the accusation, but he didn't comment.

"Mr. Brook, you've noticed how the rhythm of Luffy's heart just sound off, right?" Brook didn't move. "Ms. Nami, you've know that Luffy is just a little less hyper whenever there's cold weather around, and you know that's not just his devil fruit acting up." Nami looked away. Sabo looked around; they still didn't understand.

"Ms. Nico Robin, you've noticed that Luffy's been sleeping just a little more, haven't you? And you Mr. God, you've noticed that Luffy hasn't been bugging you while you needed alone time. In fact, he was telling me that he was glad you two didn't play as much." Robin and Usopp swallowed, not liking where Sabo was going along with all of these accusations.

"Mr. Sanji, you've noticed that Luffy doesn't complain as much when you have to ration out the meals a little thinner, but you just chalked that up to him maturing? And Mr. Franky, Luffy just doesn't have the strength to break through all the Adam's Wood, or is it because he got some more control?" Franky stared at the man in front of him hard. Sanji was just about ready to kick the bastard when Sabo made his finally accusation.

"Dr. Chopper, you've been keeping a big secret, haven't you?" Sabo asked. All eyes turned to the doctor who gulped at the sudden attention. It was only Brook who saw the Sabo held some kind of hope in his eyes, a kind of desperation for hope that he could only recall seeing in his crew's eyes in their final hours.

"H-How did you know?" Chopper asked. The light in the boy's eyes died, and Brook could almost feel the boy's heart break as well. However, the flames on Sabo's hand grew and crackled dangerously, and the group began sweating. Even as Chopper began faltering under the heat, no one on the crew took pity. Their captain was in danger, and Chopper was keeping them from saving him? It felt like years, but the young doctor finally began to speak as tears fell down his face.

"I-I-It was Law-san who told me," Chopper stuttered as he got through his explanation. To the side, Sabo's finally extinguished his flames, but no one made a word of acknowledgement toward him. "H-He gave Luffy a checkup the last t-t-time he was here, a-a-and I-I wanted to k-k-know everything he found," Chopper managed. He paused, struggling to hold back tears that wanted to fall from his face. "Luffy's heart can't keep going," Chopper finished quietly.

"What?" It was Zoro that asked, his hands already gripping his swords as if Chopper was the enemy. Chopper screamed and jumped into Robin's arms.

"Zoro, wait," Nami tried to reason, still trying to comprehend what Chopper had just explained to them.

"You've noticed the signs, haven't you Dr. Chopper," Sabo asked, as sat down again. His hat was off and he stared at the reindeer with eyes that demanded the truth. Chopper looked at Sabo as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

Sabo sighed. "We get to an island, his heart is good as new, right? That's why you didn't really think of it until now. However, once you're on the sea, Luffy's heart starts skipping beats, slows down, or does some kind of insane stunt that hearts shouldn't be able to do, right? However, Luffy looks great, and nothing can stop him. That's why you've thought of it as some kind of side effect of his devil fruit for the longest time, and that's a great way of thinking of it. But the Surgeon of Death broke that little illusion. He told you the truth, and ever since the two of you parted ways, you've been working to fix it," Sabo explained.

"I spoke to the surgeon before coming here, and he was saying that my brother only had a few more weeks at this point if you kept going at this rate, am I right, Dr. Chopper?"

Chopper didn't say a word, but Robin held onto Robin just a little tighter, as if she had the power to make Sabo stop talking, as if she had the power to fix everything. Looking at his brother's crew, Sabo shook his head and stood up.

"You've been disillusioned to think that Luffy is going to live forever, so you've ignored the signs. However, you all need to face it: whether you believe in the myth or not, Luffy is going to die after you step foot on that island," Sabo sighed, "I see that this is a lot to take in and that you all need to talk amongst yourselves. I won't be leaving until tomorrow, and until then, I can keep Luffy stationed here. After that, however, it will be up to you if he lives or dies." Picking up his hat and putting it back on his head, Sabo readied himself to face his brother. He breathed deeply, grabbed for the door, and smiled a smile that seemed so artificial after all that has been said.

He began laughing.

"Luffy!" Sabo called out, "Your crew is a riot!" and in an instant, he was gone.

Sabo certainly did not have his brother's lying ability. However, as the crew looked at each other, they weren't too sure they had Sabo's ability to lie either. How were they going to face their captain after this? The eight of them stayed in their spots motionless for who knows how long. It wasn't until Luffy's laughter could be heard from the deck that they realized that they needed to do something.

But before that, Brook gathered his violin and played a tune to sort his thoughts, Franky began planning a new design on the table Sanji broke, Robin opened a new book, Chopper simply laid next to Robin, Sanji lit a cigarette, Usopp stared in the distance, Nami broke down and cried, and Zoro began polishing his blades. None of them dared to leave, and none of them dared to make a conversation.

The crashing realization hit them all at different points, but before long, they all had tears falling to the ground. Soundless cries escaped them.

"Damn it. What the hell were we all training for?" Usopp asked.

They already failed once, like hell they were going to let it happen for a second time.

* * *

 **A/N:** This story is my take on a weird D theory and the results of it. Mostly, I am just anticipating Luffy's death by the end of the series. And this is pretty much my way of coping with this realization. Also, I am always game for some Strawhat bonding.

I hope you enjoyed reading! The next chapter will hopefully be up sometime next week. I am about halfway done with this story, so updates will hopefully be on some kind of schedule.

Thank you for reading!


	2. The Sign Was Flipped

Sabo kept this his word and stayed until the next day. The crew couldn't tell if that was because of the promise he made to them or if Sabo saw that this was possibly the last day he would see his dear little brother. Whatever it was, the revolutionary stayed with Luffy like a stray puppy throughout the day and volunteered to keep watch with the captain that night as well. The distraction gave the crew enough time to plan out something to keep Luffy alive and figure out how to end this curse or whatever it was.

When dawn came, Sabo and Koala left before any of them woke up. Luffy was sitting on the deck watching the sunrise when Sanji, who is normally the first one to wake up to prepare breakfast, found him. Sanji tried to keep his composure when he saw Luffy who was too still and too quite to be his captain. He couldn't help but think about the only time a person like him should be like that. Frustrated with that thought, he brought a cigarette to his lips and cursed to himself when he realized that he was going to smoke when he just woke up. It was too early for him to be this stressed.

"Oi! Luffy, are you hungry or not?" Sanji yelled and breathed a sigh of relief when finally Luffy turned around and smiled at him. He yelled out something, but Sanji wasn't really listening. He was just glad that his captain was moving again and being a reminder that he's not allowed to die before they find the All-Blue.

Before long, the rest of the crew woke up. Some asked where the revolutionaries were, and Luffy just told them that they had to leave before sunrise or else his dad was going to be a stingy jerk. Luffy seemed a little sad by the fact that his brother was gone, but Sanji couldn't help but just be happy that the brat was nowhere in sight. He might just end up breaking another table.

All of them waited until plates were set before Brook sent a signal to them that he was going to initiate his own plan. They had organized a series of waves the night before while Luffy was on watch. The eight of them decided that Brook and Robin would be the first wave. How they went about it was their own decisions, as how normal Straw Hat shenanigans went, but they all worked together to support each other. It was split so that one crewmember had one half of the day, and the other crewmember had the other half. With Nami's calculations, they had four days before the current simply took them to Raftel without their help, just enough time to convince their captain to live on for a few more years.

As Brook's plate was laid in front of him, Brook sighed heavily. Luffy, being the glutton that he was, didn't notice and attacked the defenseless plate. Brook sighed again, but Luffy still did not notice. Nami was getting impatient with Luffy's lack of empathy and with her best-worried look asked, "Is something the matter Brook?"

At that moment, Luffy slowed down his eating and began to pay attention. It was a small difference, but Luffy was no longer swallowing everything in sight. Internally, Brook thanked the high heavens that Nami saw what he was going for and was able to help him out.

"Ah, well, it's just I was reading one of Robin-san's book last night," Brook began. "My eyes could not believe what they were seeing, even though I don't even have eyes! But it seems like Island Whales only have a lifespan of sixty-five years." The crew immediately saw where Brook was going as flinched as they realized what was going to happen next. It was a low blow but if it worked.

"Really? How old is Laboon?" Luffy asked, his face somewhat confused but the sudden melancholy in the air.

"Let's see, the last time I saw him, he was twelve years old, and it's been fifty-two years, so that means…" Brook waited as if he was calculating this all out in his head.

"AHHH! LABOON IS ALREADY SIXTY-FOUR YEARS OLD?!" Brook screamed out in distressed that almost had the crew in worry. It was certainly enough to cause panic in Luffy.

"What? Really?" Luffly exclaimed in a panic, and he looked to Nami. "Nami! We need to get back to Reverse Mountain as soon as possible!"

"What? But we're just a few days away from Raftel!" Nami argued, hoping that it sounded genuine enough. She honestly didn't think it would be this easy. Then again, Luffy wasn't the most intelligent of people of that she knew.

"What? Really? But Brook's dream!" Luffy paused as he looked down at the table. Everyone looked curiously at what Luffy was reading, which was apparently the newspaper.

The front page depicted the Reverse Mountain and a very familiar whale breeching itself to reach the mountain peak. The article discussed the strange phenomenon of this creature and how island whales are normally very social creatures. The fact that this whale has some kind of strange marking on its face bearing a slight resemblance to the Straw Hat flag might have to do with it. It went on discussing that separating animals from its packs to preform strange tricks to entertain the heinous villain, Monkey D. Luffy, is just another crime of the Straw Hat name.

Despite the mudslinging, Luffy's face lit up at the article, and the rest of the crew cursed at Luffy's amazing luck.

"Brook! Brook, look! It's Laboon!" Luffy cheered as he pushed the paper in front of Brook's eyes. After the mudslinging, there did seem to be an editorial stating that despite all of Straw Hat's supposed abuse, the whale was perfectly happy and looked to live far beyond its species' normal lifespan.

"Ah, so it is," Brook agreed. He was torn between the facts that his initial plan had failed and to see his beloved friend still kicking it and continuing on. Luffy noticed the look of melancholy on his face and frowned slightly. However, he quickly brightened up and excused himself briefly. The rest of the crew looked out the door that Luffy ran out of. Brook simply waved him off as he was still admiring how big his little Laboon has got.

It was a few moments longer before Luffy return. The rest of crew began discussing with Robin what she had in store, but before she was able to delve into any secrets, Luffy returned with a white seashell.

"Oi, Luffy, what are you doing with my things?" Usopp asked, a little worried about what Luffy had in store. From past experience, Luffy and dials never worked well together.

"Rayleigh gave me this one from when I was training with him. I was going to give this one to Brook on his birthday, but I think this is probably the best time," Luffy explained and gave it to Brook who took it without a word of explanation. Pressing the button on top of the seashell, Brook was amazed when he saw a small image appear from the shell. It showed a very familiar lighthouse and a great waterfall behind it.

"Is this thing on?" a grouchy voice asked as the image shook around. "Eh, whatever. Damn Rayleigh and his odd favors that he seems to pull out of nowhere." The image shook again, and now it displayed the ocean.

"Laboon!" the voice called out, and in a second, an enormous wave came up. As it came up, a scream that seem to reach the crew as if they were there themselves was heard.

"Laboon," Brook whispered as he looked at the image with great interest.

The whale seemed bigger, but how bigger, none of them knew. The scars on his head were healing nicely, as if someone has been treating them for a while. The one thing that did not change was the recognizable mark on Laboon's head. For two years, it still looked very fresh. However, when looked closely, one could tell that it was just freshly painted over again. Robin, Franky, and Chopper looked at the whale in amazement. Somehow, the previous Straw Hats had overcome such an obstacle when they were first starting out, and it just made them even prouder to bare the name.

After a moment of the whale just poking its head out, Laboon sunk back into the ocean, but before long, he breeched into the sky. The image followed Laboon as he overshadowed the sun and quickly fell back into the sea with a huge splash. There was a curse heard in the background as the splash most likely caught the recorder as well.

"Well, there you are Rayleigh, you old coot. There's Laboon in all of his glory. Heh, he's gotten pretty big since the last time you've seen him. If you're there Straw Hat, you better be training hard too. Laboon is training harder since you've challenged him. He's been scaring a lot of your competition. You should have seen it: a ship got one good look at Laboon and they high-tailed it out of there and managed to go down the current. Now that's something I haven't seen in a long time," the voice laughed. Laboon also began making a high pitch squeak in response to the story.

"You remember that Laboon? That was a good day. Well, there you are Rayleigh. Not sure why you wanted this, but here you are. Say 'hi' Laboon," the voice ordered and Laboon jumped into the air into the sky again before the image when to black.

Luffy smiled wide and began laughing. "Isn't it great Brook? Laboon is going to be so happy when he learns that you got the One Piece! So, let's wait a little bit and then we can go straight to Laboon and we can party all day with that cranky old man too!"

When Brook didn't immediately perk up at that prospect, Luffy added, "Laboon can wait a few more months Brook. I told him that the Pirate King was going to see him again, and I can't just come back without the One Piece. Plus, Laboon is going to be so happy when he finds out that you found the One Piece too. Ne, Brook, wouldn't it be great it Laboon sang Bink's Sake with us too?"

Brook was quiet for a moment but smiled. "Yo ho ho, that does sound nice, Luffy-kun."

While the crew looked at the scene with worry, no one could blame Brook. With a promise like that, it was going to be hard to refuse. For Brook especially, there was no way that he could believe that Luffy was going to die, not when the boy was so full of life. In addition, who could refuse their captain his dream when he promised so many that he would achieve it? Brook thought that perhaps it wasn't all going to go to hell. Just maybe Luffy-kun was one of the lucky ones that was able to avoid the curse of the D clan

However, that fell short when Brook listened carefully at the irregular heartbeats of Luffy's beating organ, one that he hadn't had for a long time. Sabo's word echoed loudly in his ears.

Luffy laughed again, bringing the attention on him. Apparently, while they were all thinking, Luffy had sat back at the table and ate everything in sight. Immediately, the atmosphere lightened up and Usopp and Chopper began yelling at how he didn't even save a pancake for them. Their captain laughed and ran outside as the two chased after him.

Those that stayed behind looked at Brook.

"Perhaps, the curse is broken?" Brook asked hopefully as he picked up his violin and followed Luffy out. He knew that he was lying to himself, but he couldn't even bring himself to try again. Brook couldn't deny his captain his dream, not when Luffy worked so hard to keep Brook's own dream alive.

When the skeleton walked out of view, the rest of the crew looked to Robin. Her eyes were steeled in resolution.

The day passed as normal, but the heavy words from the night before still lingered in all of their heads. Nami insisted that the crew gathered around to discuss a variety of maneuvers they will have to deploy based on rumors that they have heard about Raftel and the different search parties. From their estimates, Raftel was a huge island, and it wasn't like Roger just left the treasure with a huge "X" in the sand.

After discussion, the crew lazed about. Brook especially took some time to play with Luffy and played all of his favorite songs, and a few new ones Luffy never heard before. It truly was a long time since Brook was able to play with young ones, and playing with Luffy was the closest he ever got to this. He never forgot when he first met the boy, and played a little louder when he walked through memory lane.

His captain, the boy who was able to defeat two warlords even though it could have cost him his dream, defeated Thriller Bark with the help of his crew when he himself couldn't even face his own shadow. Luffy certainly was an amazing boy, and he would rather dive back into that hateful mist than be the one to refuse his dream to him when they were so close. As a result, he hoped that Robin would be able to divert Luffy so that they would not have to say farewell for a very, very long time.

Hours passed, and everyone was getting anxious on when Robin was going to do something. It was right after dinner when Robin excused herself before dessert was passed out. She gratefully gave Luffy her serving and quickly went to her room. With a slight look of concern, Luffy quickly ate his dessert and Robin's and asked everyone if something was wrong with Robin.

The crew shook their head in the truth: they had no idea what was happening. Luffy, being the captain that he was, shrugged his shoulders and continued eating unattended desserts and frowning when his hands were slapped away. Realizing that he wasn't going to be getting any more extra desserts, he left the table and went out to the deck. Nami looked at Sanji who looked at Franky to see if any of them knew what was going on. All of them shook their head and just hoped that Robin would use that trickery that she was known for to get the ship moving in the opposite direction.

However, as good as Robin was with trickery, there was actually very little she could hide from her captain. Somehow, he had realized that Robin was not in fact in her room and was actually in the crow's nest, a place she normally found herself when she needed to think. Luffy had stretched up here after when she presumed he had finished dessert.

Very few of the crew actually went up in the crow's nest in the after hours until someone had to go up for watch. By then, Robin had already left unless she herself was on watch duty that night. It was a very quiet place for people like her to collect her thoughts or read while being away from the group while not being quite that far away. It was her secret area in a way.

Luffy smiled when he saw her here and took a seat right next to her.

Robin welcomed her captain as she normally did when he found her here. Strangely enough, while Luffy was a rambunctious child during the day, he seemed to have realized when someone needed quiet, especially for Robin. He mostly came up for stories anyways. After the two years, he would simply come up here with a blanket and pillow in tow, ready for a story when it was his turn to take watch. However, there were no stories this night. Robin simply waited for the perfect moment and continued to watch out the window. When neither of them said a word, Luffy took the initiative to break the silence.

"Hey Robin, could you tell me about the Rio Poneglyph again?" Luffy asked, his go-to story when he wanted to listen to one from Robin. However, Robin took saw the opportunity and took it. She clenched her hands and sighed.

"Luffy," she began, "we must go back."

At that, Luffy scrunched up his eyebrows and frowned. "Eh? But we're almost there Robin. Don't you want to see the Rio Poneglyph?"

"Don't you see Luffy?!" Robin yelled out, and Luffy jumped slightly at the sudden outburst. "I've been doing some research, and the history on the Rio Poneglyph should has been stated again and again that it should never be shared with the world again, unless true devastation is wanted. Whatever is on that stone is going to be bigger than any Buster Call, any warlord, or anything the World Government is going to be able to pull. And I- I don't want to do that to-" Robin never got a chance to finish as she felt Luffy's hand slap her across the face.

"What?" Robin whispered.

"You're not allowed to give up on your dream Robin! Why are you saying something as stupid as that?" Luffy practically yelled, his eyes red and his eye narrowed. It reminded her too much of that time when the two of them were in the tomb together.

She told him she wanted to die. He told her that she had to live.

"We're so close Robin. Who cares about what anyone else says about anything? I'll kick all of their asses. That's what I trained for," Luffy explained. He sat back on the bench and sighed. He took off his hat and put it on Robin. Robin, shocked that Luffy actually did that, didn't say a word. After a moment, Luffy sighed.

"You know how Shanks lost his arm?" he inquired, and when Robin shook her head, still in shock that Luffy actually slapped her, he smiled. "He told me that he made a bet with me, and his arm was the offer.

"When I was really young, I got kidnapped by some pirates. This guy was such an idiot though, he went all the way to the sea and then the guardian of the sea came up and almost ate us up. Shanks didn't have to save me, but he did anyways. Afterwards, I told him that I didn't want to join his crew and that I was going to make my own crew to beat his and become the Pirate King. He gave me this hat and told me that this was his bet that I'll come back and return his hat to him when I become a great pirate," Luffy recounted and his crossed his arms behind his head. After a moment, he looked straight into Robin's eyes as if asking, "Do you understand now?"

At first, Robin didn't understand. Why was he telling her this story? Honestly, she didn't really care about the condition of Red-Haired Shanks. She just wanted her captain to be safe and sound and not in danger of having his heart exploding and somehow breaking the curse of this Will of D. However, the more that Luffy stared at her, the more Robin began to think.

She thought back to the tomb when she chided him for making her live when she wanted to die. He just ignored her and forced her to feel the rain that was miraculously pouring in the desert kingdom. While the king had left her in Luffy's moment of exhaustion, she could still remember being drawn to the Straw Hat ship. At the time, she had thought it was because it was the simplest way out of the country. Mr. Bon Clay would certainly have trouble with her being on the ship.

Then came Enies Lobby, when no matter what, Luffy refused to believe that Robin had truly abandoned them and gave everything that he had to save her from an execution. She could still remember when he forced her to state her wish: she still wanted to live. After that, it was all in Luffy's hands. After all, the moment that she joined his crew, her dreams were placed into his hands too.

Robin's eyes widen in realization, and she smiled. Luffy smiled back at her and took back his hat from his head.

"Sentimental now, are you Senchou-san?" Robin asked jokingly. Just as Shanks made a bet on the world that Luffy was going to be the best pirate the world ever saw, Luffy made a bet on Robin. In fact, he made a bet on all of his crew that they were going to be the ones that saw his through on that bet.

To even try to deceive him on the fact that she was giving up her dream would seem like mutiny to him. Even if it could possible mean his end, there was no way Robin was willing to make her captain give up his dream for their own selfish desire to keep him alive.

She could almost laugh. Luffy had saved her so that she could fulfill her dream. Now Robin had to lead her captain to death in order to fulfill his own. What a cruel mistress destiny was.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King," Luffy declared. "I can't do that without a good crew though. You guys have been the best, and you guys all have dreams too! When we get to Raftel, we're going to have the biggest adventure! And then you can find your true history there too! The whole world is going to know about it, right Robin?" Luffy asked, and Robin nodded with a smile. She couldn't help herself. There was no way that she was able to refuse him either, not when he placed so much in her in his challenge to both Shanks and the seas.

Luffy seemed to have like the answer too and laughed. When he finished, he stood up and began walking out. Robin was looking out the window, wondering if she had any books on heart diseases or the D curse in the library. There had to be a miracle they could preform before the curse took place, right?

"I'm glad you guys will be okay without me," Luffy whispered to no one in particular.

Before the words settled in her head though, Luffy had already vanished from the crow's nest. She stared at the empty space her captain was at in disbelief. She was just about to follow when he heard someone climb the rope ladder. It was just Usopp.

"Robin? Hey Robin, did your plan work?" he asked.

Robin continued staring, unsure on how to feel about this new development. She simply shook her head and looked at Usopp with sad eyes.

"He knows," she said simply and began walking down and talking with Chopper about any kind of solution he may have.

* * *

 **A/N** : I never realized how complex the Sunny Go was. There are a lot of rooms, and when your writing the crew on the ship, it's hard to keep track of which characters are where and what they're doing. I 100% commend Oda on his ability to do so. Or his attempt to at least.

I've always liked Brook. He started off as this weird gag character, and while he still kind of is, he's just so oddly there. Like he's powerful. He really mature when he needs to be. And he's all the round really cool. He's also pretty good to get writing in depth, which is one of the reasons why I stared like this.

Now Robin is my absolute favorite. Just the whole Enies Lobby thing was great. I love her, and I hope I gave her part justice. Fun fact: I always end up writing in Robin's point of view when I'm just trying out an angle for a chapter, to help develop a scene, or something like that. I don't know. Robin and I click a lot.

Anyways, Thank you for reading! And don't worry, all plot holes (or at least most of them) with how this works with canon will be answer soon. The next chapter will be up next week!


	3. Obstacles Were Placed

That night was not an easy one. After hearing that Robin could not bring herself to get Luffy to turn around, the crew sat around and began planning for the events ahead. No one blamed them. If Robin's plan went as badly as Brook, it was going to be hard to change their mind. As Brook explained, the plan to turn back was as if making Luffy turn back on his dream. What they learned today was that they had to separate Luffy from his dream, and that was so difficult because the man epitomized the very being of big dreams. As Robin said before, to refuse Luffy his dream was like committing mutiny.

The next day was Franky's and Nami's plans, and while the crew hoped that they were successful, many of them began believing that the best they could do was stall for a few more hours until they had the chance to think of better plans. If they could not trick Luffy into turning back, they had to do something more drastic. As Nami and Franky began fine-tuning their plans, Chopper asked why they did not just tell him the truth.

"I mean, if we tell Luffy that he's not well and we need to get him medical attention, then he'll surely want to go back, right? He doesn't seem like the type of guy who wants to go to sleep," Chopper reasoned, forbidding himself from admitting that sleeping would probably be the last thing Luffy would be doing.

"It won't work," Robin denied, and the crew looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Huh? Why's that? It seems solid enough to me. Not sure why we didn't try that earlier," Franky argued, but Robin already shook her head.

"When he was talking to me, he said that he was glad that we would be able to take care of ourselves when he was gone. He already knows that he's a dead man if he steps foot on that island. Somehow, Luffy figured it out," Robin explained and the crew stilled. Zoro looked toward the door to the deck where Luffy was sitting out on the figurehead. He furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought.

"He's an idiot, I doubt he even knows what's happening to him," Sanji countered, his hand reaching for a cigarette in his pocket, "He probably thinks he's just going for a nap or something." Usopp agreed, his mind not accepting that Luffy was that type of man. He had been though Hell and back and still loved life. There was no way that Luffy was someone who took death with open arms.

"Nonetheless, Brook's and my idea of tricking Luffy to turning around both failed, and judging but what he already seems to know, lying and diversion is not going to work, especially since he seems to be aware of his fate and fully accepting of it. We're going to need a new strategy to persuade the captain in turning around," Robin stated as she looked toward Franky and Nami.

"Don't worry Robin! I got a super plan!" Franky promised and Nami simply nodded. Before the two of them could go into any details, Luffy had appeared at the doorway demanding that Sanji cooked him something before he went to bed. Only when the two of them had give him a thumbs up did he leave the room for the kitchen. Their captain cheered when he finally got his way, as he almost always did, and the rest of them couldn't help but smile as well.

It reaffirmed their resolve, and Nami and Franky weren't going to let a curse beat them.

The night passed easily enough. It seemed like the seas around Raftel weren't as treacherous as the rumors made them seem. Robin speculated that they were just rumors to keep other pirates away. She also made a joke that it could just be the ghost of Gol D. Roger guiding them around. As if the name summoned him, Luffy immediately stretched over and begged Robin to tell him the story when it was rumored Roger defeated an army of a thousand men. Robin giggled and proceeded to tell him the story as she remembered it.

That's when Nami made her move.

"Captain, are you really just going to listen to stories all day?" Nami asked with a bit of venom in her tone. She noticed that the other boys stopped what they were doing to pay attention to her. Ignoring the sudden attention, she focused her eyes on the boy in front of her. Luffy didn't seem to understand where she was going with this.

"Look, I've been your navigator for years. During that time, you've been treating me like your babysitter! You've been treating all of us as your caretakers! What kind of captain are you if you can't even take care of yourself? I for sure am not going to take this any longer!" Nami yelled as she glared at the man – no boy, she reminded herself – in front of her. She tried not to look into the eyes that watched his beloved brother died or at the scar on his chest that represented all of the pain he withstood. No, if she wanted this to work, she had to pretend he was still the same boy she met all those years ago.

"Luffy," she announced as she stood up from her chair, "from this point on, I refuse to be her navigator."

"Eh?" he asked, not really understanding the situation. "What are you taking about Nami?"

Nami internally growled. For some reason, this idiot did not seem to understand the severity of the situation. After all, being lost in the New World was not something that happened because the people who did get lost were never heard from again. She tried to resist a sigh and ran into the cabins. Luffy only stared at her as she ran from his view. She vaguely heard Luffy ask Robin what was wrong, but she was glad he did not pursue her just yet.

She took a note of the current weather conditions and estimated she had a few hours before she had to go outside to adjust their course. As of now, the weather seemed stable enough for her to leave the ship in the hands of the crew. However, as the weather was as unpredictable as her captain, she hoped that this will end quickly.

After all, what was a captain without a navigator to guide him through the seas?

Nami's plan was simple. All she had to do was hide on the ship until Luffy met her demands to keep her as the Straw Hat navigator. While it was not the most noble of plans, she had experience with getting what she wanted from pirates. She knew she had desirable skills, and if there was any kind of bargaining that were to be had, she was going to be the one cutting the deals, even if the result was something as humiliating as this.

Nami elected to stay in the Girl's Cabin until Luffy found her. It would most likely take the idiot a few hours to even think about this location, which would give her enough time to try and figure what she wanted. Taking a seat at her desk, she took out her maps and spread them across the floor.

Sitting down with them, she circled key areas that they should visit. Some of them were actually located back in the Blue Seas, but it was good place if they wanted to make sure their captain stayed in one piece. From what Sabo told them, the further away from Raftel, the better they were going to be. Hopefully, they would be able to find what they needed in the Blue Seas, and they could restart their whole adventure onto the Grand Line without the fear that they were going to fail.

With that, it was going to take a few months just to get back to the Blue Seas, and then there was also the added fact that they needed to get to the South Sea before even getting back to the Grand Line if necessary, and to do that they needed-

"Nami?"

She jumped at the sudden call of her name before realizing that Luffy was actually behind the door. She didn't think that he would be able to find her so easily.

"Nami," he whined and he knocked on the door with a little more force. Nami played around with idea if she didn't move, he might just go away and search another part of the ship. After another minute of knocking that got increasingly louder with every second, she finally gave up and opened the door.

Luffy smiled as he saw her face appear from behind the door, and Nami couldn't help but think that he knew he would have gotten his way sooner or later. She cursed him when she realized that he was right.

She let him through the door, and he immediately jumped onto the bed in excitement.

"Ah, it's nice to sleep on a bed, but hammocks are cooler," Luffy insisted as he laid flat on his back. Nami was about to remind him that he had a bed in the captain's room, which was later converted to an invention room for Franky, but remembered what her captain had just told her. She smiled as she agreed that hammocks were cool, but not great on her back. Catching herself being too fond of her captain, she stoned her face and crossed her arms.

"Well? Do I have an offer?" she asked. Luffy sat up, and frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well? What are you offering so that I stay as your navigator?" Nami clarified.

Luffy continued frowning, but he began thinking long and hard. Nami sighed. It was just like Luffy that he would come charging in without a plan. That's why he needed her: God knows Zoro would just the enable the kid.

"I got it!" Luffy exclaimed, and pulled out something from his pocket. Nami's eyes widen as she grabbed it out of his hand.

"These are mine! You can't offer my stuff to me!" Nami chided as she examined the tangerine in her hands. Very rarely could anyone eat her precious treasures. The gall Luffy had offering something like this couldn't mean anything good.

"Well what do you want?" Luffy whined, "You already told me that you only like money and tangerines. I don't have money, and you forgot that."

"In that case captain, what about this deal: we go back to the Blue Seas and -" Nami offered, and Luffy's face soured up.

"No."

"Why not?" Nami asked, already getting tired of her captain's antics. This was already getting stupid and absurd.

"Because I don't wanna," he answered immaturely and lay back down on the bed.

"Luffy, I'm serious. If you don't got with what I say, I'm getting Franky to build me a boat and I'll-"

"Then go," Luffy dismissed. He had turned on his side and was facing away from her and toward the pillows. Even with his back turned on her, she still knew that it hurt her captain to tell her that.

"What? Luffy, don't fool around. You can't travel the New World without a navigator!" Nami reasoned, but Luffy still did not budge on his position. Rolling so that he faced the roof, he placed his hat over his face and crossed his arms. Had she not have traveled with the man for over two years, she might have thought he was being stern with her. Truth be told, she knew that he was trying to hide how he looked.

"One time, Torao asked me how I got all of you guys on my crew. He said that I didn't look like a guy who had contracts or anything, and he looked all funny when I just said that you guys all just joined me for the fun of it!" There was a smile hiding behind the hat. "He said something about how even the Whitebeards have paperwork and contracts or something, but that sounded dumb. He also said that my crew could at any time just abandon me whenever they want, and I told him that it didn't really matter."

Nami stayed quiet. It was quite true. There really was nothing binding her to stay on the ship. Luffy never offered her anything, and she never really asked for anything. If she wanted to leave at any point, she could have. That was why Robin and Usopp were free to leave in Water 7, and why Sanji was able to back on Zou. If they were taken, that was a different matter, but no one was ever required to stay.

"Hey Nami," Luffy asked suddenly, his face uncovered by the hat and bright eyes looking expectedly towards her. At some point, the tears she was so sure where there must have dried up. "Can you tell me why you wanted to be in the Straw Hat crew? Before you leave and everything?"

Nami stood there in silence, thinking about her answer. Storytelling was never her strong suit, which is why she left it all to Usopp. She often lied about her tales, but not in the way Usopp did. Even Robin was able to tell better tales than she was, and the woman grew up telling lies about herself to protect herself. Nami was just not as good of a wordsmith as her.

She ran through her mind for the answer. Plenty showed up: get the One Piece, become a famous pirate, to make a map of the entire world, but none were the right one. She looked at her captain, and she sighed.

"Luffy," she sighed and walked over to the bed. She sat down and grabbed Luffy's hat off his head. This was the hat that she had to fix countless times. She often wondered how much of this old hat was still the same old hat Shanks or even Rogers once wore on their heads. Nami glanced back at her captain, and she leaned back.

"Once upon a time," Nami began, taking a page from Robin's book. This was often how she started stories with Luffy. She talked on and on about how a young girl in a small village called Cocoyasi Village was one overtaken by evil fishmen (since she now learned about good fishmen). One fishman was named Arlong and ordered her to raise money to buy the island back from him. She worked so hard for years and years, making maps for this guy she really hated. One day, the girl met this strange boy made out of rubber and this idiot swordsman who could hardly tell from right to left (and to this day, still can't.) She went on how the three of them became four and even five before the girl left because she finally got enough money to do it. Somehow, the strange boy made what she was doing so much easier that she almost did not want to leave. But she did, and Arlong betrayed. The girl cried and cried and was about to hurt herself badly, but the starnge boy appeared somehow and he said he could take care of it.

He did it. He did something that no one has been able to do for decades, and now, finally, she was free.

At them mention of freedom, Luffy smiled. Nami looked down at the hat she was playing with, and she understood. Tears threatened to fall, but she fought and stayed strong.

"It would only be for a little while," Nami argued.

Luffy frowned and took his hat back. In a moment of unexpected wisdom, Luffy shook his head. He placed his fist over his heart and looked at Nami, hoping she understood. She tried to look past the scar that marked his skin.

"I have to go to Raftel," Luffy stated adamantly. "It's either now or never."

Nami nodded, but she did not like it. Somehow, Luffy understood that there was no way to avoid this no matter how much his brother and his crew wanted there to be.

She understood that she was the only way that he would ever get there, or die trying. Nami blinked her eyes and sighed.

Luffy is the man who will become the Pirate King. It was the creed of the Straw Hat crew. To deny the boy that right would be worse than watching him die in front of them. Nami understood that now.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nami asked. Luffy blinked for a second, but then smiled that grin that shouldn't be on a dying man's face.

"Would it made a difference?" he asked and walked away from her to leave her to her thoughts.

Nami stared after him, but then smiled as well.

"No, it wouldn't," Nami sighed. Frowning, she grabbed her maps, adjusted it to the log pose and made way to Raftel. How appropriate for the final destination.

Just as Nami was about to join the rest of the crew on deck, the entire ship seemed to have stopped and lurched forward. Scared that they had somehow hit rocks (damn Zoro and his watch), she ran on deck and was surprised that no one was in panic. She marched to Usopp and demanded to know what happened.

"Robin told us everything," Usopp explained with a smile. "As soon as Luffy left, Franky went down to the ship room and dropped the anchor. We can't go anywhere if the ship doesn't move right? It'll give us some time to think of something before we get too close to Raftel. Chopper's been telling us that his condition was getting worse." Nami pursed her lips. She looked over to Robin and Brook who understood why they needed to continue to move forward.

The two of them shrugged and allowed it to just play it. Nami nodded. What the crew did not know was that fate would not allow its path to be shaken so easily.

"Zoro!" Chopper yelled. Nami looked at the railing to find that the swordsman was climbing up again, dragging their soaked captain up to the ship. He must have fallen unexpectedly when the ship stopped suddenly.

"FRANKY!" Luffy yelled and began to make his move down to the ship room before Chopper had the chance to ask if he was okay. Zoro sighed and walked back to his napping place. They only had a few days left, maybe one or two more if this ship stay stationed like this.

Nami looked up to the sky. She bit her lip. She just hoped that they were doing the right thing.

Meanwhile, Franky played around with levers and switches to make sure that the Sunny Go stayed afloat. It was never safe when a ship lays anchor is rough waters like this. He was really hoping that Nami would be able to do something, seeing how she was one of the first members of the crew. However, when Robin said, with a smile no less, that Nami failed, he had to resort to his plan. He didn't even care that Luffy fell out of ship. What he did know was that they needed some more time to figure out how to stop it.

Once he managed to get the ship stabilized in the waters, he sat down. He looked at the door that he barricaded with a multitude of locks. He might be one of the newer members of the crew, there was something to be said about his experience with breaking off ties easily. What he noticed was that people broke down when Luffy talked to them. Franky, as super as he was, knew that not even he was immune to his captain's speeches. However, if Luffy did not talk to him and if they stayed like this, there had to be a way that the crew up above would be able to think of way to get Luffy back to his healthy captain self.

He might not be as smart as Chopper or Robin or really understand this whole Will of D thing, but if it meant that Luffy was in danger, than he would rather tear apart Sunny than to watch the kid face execution. After all, he went through life and death after Luffy realized that Frank was one of the good guys, and the two of them hardly even met!

"Franky!" Luffy growled as he charged through the hallway to get to the engine room. The shipwright sighed, and waited for the imminent "bang" on the door. Straw Hat Luffy has been known to make entire armies quiver, steel bend to his will, and even set things ablaze with a single look. However, the entire crew has learned how to make their rooms and supplies "Luffy-proof". It was a valuable skill one must learn if you wanted any semblance of privacy in your life.

As Luffy began relentlessly pounding on the door from the other side, Franky began telegramming Usopp through a machine he and Usopp made. With Nami, Robin, and Brook adamant that they truly had to get to Raftel before they ran out of time, it was hard to get a consensus on what to do next.

Franky sighed. What in the world did Luffy say to those three to make them want him to die? Franky knew how it felt to die. It was just sheer willpower that let him come back again. Brook probably understood that too, but damn, Luffy really did have to hit a hard spot there with Laboon and his promises. Brook wasn't one to break promises, and he wasn't going to be the one to make Luffy break his own promise with Laboon.

Franky didn't really know what happened with Nami and Robin, but from what he understood, Luffy just outright said that no matter what they did, Luffy was going to die anyways. Damn idiot. Couldn't he see that Luffy wasn't supposed to die? That Straw Hat Luffy, the man who lived through the Great War, couldn't die?

"Ah, I don't know. Franky is just being stupid," he heard Luffy say from behind the door.

Great, Franky thought. Here's an opportunity for another one of the crewmembers to get sucked into this whole madness. This was one weird form of mutiny if he ever saw it.

"But I have to be the Pirate King, Sunny," Luffy whined, but Franky stopped. His captain was too stupid to think of a plan as elaborate as this, so either the kid had gone crazy or…

Franky peeked through the door and saw that no one other than Luffy was actually there. Inwardly he smirked: perhaps he didn't give his captain enough credit.

"That was one super tactic you got there Mugiwara," Franky complimented, and immediately closed the door. That got Luffy really riled up for another few moments. He may be one of the adults of the crew, but nothing is baiting Luffy like this.

"Oi! Franky! You better open this door or else I'm going to kick your ass!" Luffy threatened. Had he been an enemy, Franky probably would have been shaking in his bolts. The kid was probably the scariest person he has ever met. However, he knew the threat was empty and simply began strumming a guitar. From Usopps's transmissions, it was going to be a long time before the crew settled on a logical decision.

"Luffy-kun, perhaps it would be better if we just think about this," a voice advised from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, listen to that person Mugiwara," Franky agreed as he began singing along some random tune he heard once. Finally someone had was beginning to have some sense around here.

"Eh? But I already told you! We need to get to Raftel!"

"But Luffy-kun," the voice begged. Franky stopped strumming. If everyone was up on the deck talking…

Who the hell was talking to Luffy then?

Once again opening the door, Franky stood there silenced by the sight. In front of him was his displeased captain, which was a normal sight for anyone on the crew, but in addition stood some kind of ghostly figure wearing a raincoat and a small smile. He had heard Usopp talk about his adventures of the Merry-Go a thousand times, so he was sure about what he was seeing now.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Franky asked, readying his arm.

"Eh? Franky? What are you doing? That's-"

"I know what that is, and if they don't get off this ship in the next second, I'm blasting them away for them."

"Franky-san, I know what you may think this means but I swear I only come in-"

"Shut up! Sunny is completely fine! Whatever bad omens you got for her is going to be fixed by us! She can handle it!"

"Even the loss of your captain?"

To those words, Franky stopped his bazooka. He eyed the figure warily.

"How much do you know?" Franky asked.

The figured sighed, and looked at the shipwright straight into his eyes.

"Luffy-kun is going to be doomed to die the moment he steps onto Raftel, our destination. You guys have been doing a lot to try to prevent his death, and that's good," the figure assured. She smiled at both Franky and at Luffy, who was still looking very displeased. "However, I don't want to be a part of it."

Franky began aiming his weapon again. "You would rather kill you own captain?"

"Franky-san, you know what I am. I am a Klabautermann. I have been with you guys since you left Water-Seven. I am as much as a Straw Hat as you all are, and I love Luffy-kun as much as all of you," the spirit defended, and their smile dropped every so slightly. "However, I am also a part of this ship. Ships aren't supposed to be the things that keep their captain from their destination."

Franky stopped, thought for a moment at what was being said. However, his anger flared up again and he began screaming.

"What the hell are you talking about? You dream is to sail around the oceans as Mugiwara's ship. You're a Straw Hat! Why do you want to sail without him!"

"Franky," Luffy called out, but the shipwright ignored him.

"When Tom-san went to jail that day, I never understood why he would rather die than see me in his place. It's never a sin to die, so why the hell are all of you so accepting that Luffy is going to die so quickly?! We have the entire world to sail! Why end it here?!"

Franky would never admit it aloud, but he has never been more grateful than that day that Luffy practically forced Franky onto their ship. Had they not, he would have still been Franky that was a ruckus to Water-Seven, the younger brother Iceberg never wanted, and still wondering what if the Sunny-Go has accomplished his dream. He would have never been able to be the star that he knew he was. He was never more proud of anything than having the words "STRAW HAT" on his wanted poster.

And now all sorts of people were saying that it's time to let go? What a load of bull.

"Franky," Luffy repeated, and this time Franky listened.

"We're going to Raftel," Luffy said, his voice deep and low. Had he been an enemy or an ally behind Luffy, he would have begun sweating. However, he was too angry to be thinking about any of that now.

"You listen here Mugiwara: I'd rather die than watch you die for some stupid reason," Franky threatened.

"Are you an idiot?!" Luffy yelled, his voice rising. In the room, the transmitter was buzzing nonstop, probably texts from a worried crew.

"You can stop your dream all you want, but you're not going to be the thing in the way of Sunny's dream!" Luffy screamed, and was getting ready to throw a strong punch. He was just about to when the Klabautermann came to Franky's defense. Luffy stopped in the nick of time.

"Luffy-kun. Stop. Don't fight over this. You have to understand," the spirit begged, and looked over to Franky.

"You agreed to become a Straw Hat to help Luffy achieve your dream, right?" Franky nodded, his frown showing his disapproval about where this conversation was going.

"Would you still be a Straw Hat if you stopped Luffy from doing that then?" the spirit asked, and the words felt as if he was being punched in the gut. It was a good thing his front side was enhanced.

"Better living and sad than dead and happy," Franky reasoned.

"What would Tom-san say?" And that's what made Franky really think. What would Tom-san say? What would Iceberg say? What would he say in ten, twenty years?

Franky lowered his arms and stared at the cursed spirit. He has never been the type of person to be ashamed of anything he made. He has never been ashamed of his dream, and he has often told others the same. Tom-san made that ship knowing that he was one day going to get arrested. Hell, he built the Thousand Sunny knowing full-well that Mugiwara was going to be the pirate king.

Would he still have built the ship knowing that it would lead him to his death?

Frustrated, Franky punched the wall beside him. He then grabbed his captain by the shirt and stared at the boy (when did the kid look so grown up, Franky wondered). He looked at the boy straight in the eyes and asked, "Do you know what you're doing Mugiwara?"

Luffy placed his hands onto Franky's fists and stared back. However, it wasn't the same stare he seen when faced to an opponent. It was a stare full of resolve.

"I'm going to be the pirate king," Luffy said definitively. "Sunny is going to Raftel. My shipwright is going to build a ship that travels around the world, right?"

"Even if it kills you?" Franky pressed.

Luffy looked away for a split second, but then returned to face Franky and smiled. "King of the pirates or death."

The shipwright stared at his captain for minutes, but it felt like years. For all of the years that Franky has been alive, for all the trials and tribulations that Franky has lived through, he has never seen a person so dedicated before. The person that came closest was Tom-san, but even he wasn't so selfish. This dream was literally Luffy's purpose, and not even his Nakama were a good enough reason to abandon that purpose.

"Everyone dies Franky," Luffy said and slowly persuaded the fists to release their grip.

Franky shook his head. Not Luffy though. Luffy was able to live through anything. He was going to see Sunny through their journey. He was going to give Sunny the fame and glory she deserved. Luffy was going to achieve his dream and –

Franky paused in his thoughts and looked back at the spirit. When had Luffy become responsible for his dream? The spirit in front of him, already disappearing from his sight, had a sad smile on their face. It mouthed something, but Franky didn't pay attention. His back was already turned to the couple as he worked the anchor and allowed the ship to continue moving.

"God damn it Mugiwara, this treasure better be worth it," Franky cursed through tears. Unknowingly to Franky, Luffy smiled and walked back up to deck.

On the transmitter, Usopp was yelling at him, demanding what he was doing. Franky could only stare at the levers. He couldn't face Usopp, not yet.

There was no way that he could tell him that he understood. Franky laughed.

Pirate King or death, is what he said. Never in his life did he think that an "and" belonged there instead.

* * *

 **A/N:** When I started writing this story, I wanted to pair up people who weren't usually paired up.

My reasoning for Brook and Robin is that Luffy both gave them a reason to live again. For Franky and Nami, both of them needed Luffy to get a start on their dream. Franky needed a push to make the Sunny-Go and Nami needed a captain to sail with.

Going more into their characters, I chose to have Nami do this method because she's always been "self interest" kind of gal. Like she doesn't need Luffy, but she doesn't want to do it without him. She knows how valuable she is, but she also knows how valuable he is to her. It's this kind of power play going on that I really thought was interesting.

With Franky, like I said, he's very down to earth. You can't get to Raftel without a ship. He might not be smartest for these kinds of situations, but he can make time. He waited years, he can wait a few weeks for someone to knock some sense. Makes sense that a ghost would make Franky see otherwise.

Thank you so much for reading! See you next week!


	4. We Lost the Map

There was just too much stupid on the ship right now for Sanji to deal with. Quickly after dinner was served, Sanji moved back to the deck to take his probably twentieth smoke of the day. One could probably imagine the face the cook made when he heard that somehow their captain had managed to persuade Franky and Nami-swan to let Luffy walk to his deathbed. Sanji exhaled.

Why was this a problem he was facing? Why did he have to have the captain that didn't fear death but rather welcomed it?

Sanji was just about to kick the deck railing but managed to stop himself. Franky probably wouldn't appreciate it if he had to fix it again. Even for a shipwright, there is a limit of how many supplies they were going to be able to spare for Sanji's spurs of anger.

He would argue that it was their fault for failing their captain, but his words would simply fall on deaf ears. Honestly, he and Usopp were the last line of defense. Sanji could already see the idiotic marimo breaking under the peer pressure. If the two of them didn't do something soon, they'll be at Raftel, and Luffy, his idiotic, stupid, shitty, amazing, miraculous captain will have a timer on his head. Knowing Luffy, his death probably won't be quiet. Sanji could imagine every single scenario in his head: Luffy gets stranded on an island and is eaten by cannibals, Luffy is defeated by the Blackbeard bastard, Luffy is killed though mutiny (Sanji shudders at that one – but he can't push back the thought far enough), and worst enough, he meets the same fate as his brother. The marines capture him, and Sanji and the entire crew are running and running and they try to get back, and god, they remember stories where Luffy and Ace were so close to escaping, but here they are, too weak to even reach their captain and the swords drop and-

"You know, Franky is going to get really angry if you keep breaking things," a voice chided behind him. Sanji was brought back from his thoughts and was relieved that it was Usopp looking at him instead of his captain. In a moment of weakness, he might have craved into whatever Luffy was doing to persuade the crew. However, Usopp's face steeled his resolve.

"Yeah? Well, the shitty shipwright deserves it for failing his captain," Sanji retorted and took another puff of smoke.

Usopp began leaning next to Sanji on the remaining railing.

"Are you not going to eat?" Usopp asked.

The cook shook his head and gestured to the cigarette. "These things suppress hunger if you have too many of them, and with how the week has been going, I won't be going hungry anytime soon." Sanji almost smiled at the small joke he made to himself.

Usopp nodded, obviously in his own little world at this point. The two of them stood there in silence staring at the ocean in front of them, listening to the scene happening behind them. Sanji couldn't understand how the rest of them could smile, could enjoy themselves, not feel guilt as with every moment, it was all going to disappear prematurely one day.

Damn, he was getting distracted. He needed to think.

"Here's what I'm thinking," Usopp announced and Sanji looked at the sniper. He respected Usopp as a crewmember, and there was never a time when it counted that Sanji felt like Usopp couldn't pull his weight. If the guy had a plan, it was definitely worth listening to.

The cook sat there in silence, nodding at some points and objecting at others. However, he couldn't help but be slightly impressed with all the thinking that went into this plan. While it was simple, a lot of coordination was going to be needed from him in order for all of this to work. That being said, it was nothing the two of them could accomplish.

"Fine. If that's something we're going to need to do, then we're going to have to modify this part," and so on the conversation went on. At some point, Nami and Robin walked outside to tell them that dessert was quickly disappearing, but they paid them no heed. The women looked at each other with a worried glance but did not say a word. After a moment, they realized that the two of them weren't coming out of their plans and went back inside to enjoy time with their captain.

After another few hours, the two of them retreated to bed. They were going to need their full strength for this plan to work. Sanji repressed the urge for another cigarette before heading to bed. He was on his third pack in the last three days, and it would do no good if he went before his captain.

"Shitty captain," Sanji whispered as he passed Luffy's cot. The idiot was going to follow all of them to their dreams, not just end at his own.

Sanji and Usopp were going to make sure of it.

The next day came easily as it had before, but Usopp found that he could not bring himself up at his usual wake up time. There was a lot of things resting on him and Sanji today, and if he failed-

Usopp shook the thought out of his mind. There was no failure. It was going to work. It had to. Still, it didn't help that the last time Usopp tried doing something like this, it did not go well.

He crawled up of his cot and got dressed. Grabbing his gear, Usopp steeled his wary heart and made his way to the kitchen. Brook was in unusually good spirits this morning and was playing his violin on the deck. The weather was nice enough for Robin to enjoy a few more chapters of her book before breakfast was served. Nami was in her grove checking on her tangerines. Franky was humming some kind of tune as he built something new. Zoro and Chopper were off doing their own thing, but Usopp could feel their watchful eyes.

It was like an ordinary day.

It irritated Usopp to no end. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and waited.

"Yay! Breakfast outside!" Luffy cheered as he jumped from mast onto the deck. "It's like a picnic."

"It's no different than eating inside," Zoro commented from his spot from the railing.

"Are you stupid Zoro?" Luffy asked, incredulous that his first mate made such a comment. "Eating outside means that everything tastes better. I heard from some guys at this pub from my home town that the sea salt makes everything tastes better."

"Who the hell told you that?" Zoro asked.

"Some old geezer. That's why all the feasts taste better than when we eat inside. Can't you tell?" Luffy asked as if his logic made all the sense in the world, and Usopp had to admit that even Usopp found himself nodding before he thought about what was being said. That was the charm that came with Luffy though. You just never know what he was going to say, but you knew somewhere that he was right.

However, Usopp was getting distracted again. He poked at his garden, gathering a few different plants and stuck them in his pouch. At this point, he would normally be hanging out with Luffy, but today was not the day to get distracted. He needed his A-game today, or else he'll never be able to do it again.

Some part of his mind tried to tell him that he should just spend the day playing regardless, but he would rather sacrifice one day for many more. He didn't care about a curse. He was a Straw Hat, and there is nothing that they can't do.

He hoped.

"Oi!" Luffy called, "Sanji! Where's breakfast?"

"You want your shitty breakfast?"

Opening the kitchen doors, Sanji walked out coolly and lit another cigarette. Luffy frowned.

"Oi, what's going on?" Luffy's face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance. There was very little that can stop Luffy from getting breakfast, and Sanji was not on the list. Usopp waited on the sidelines, watching the two provoke each other. They had a plan, and hopefully they were smarter than Luffy's rashness. They had to be in order for this to work. They had to.

Usopp looked to his side to see Nami and Robin stopping their conversation to watch. Nami glanced briefly at Usopp, but once she caught his eye she looked away. Usopp just didn't understand.

"You want food?" Sanji asked. "You're going to have to get through me."

"Oi, Oi, just what are you thinking shitty cook?" Zoro asked, readying his sword.

"What, do I have to spell it out to you shitty marimo?" Sanji asked. He sighed. Usopp watched carefully and steeled himself. Just keep waiting.

He watched as the cook slowly climbed down the stairs. The air was tense, and everyone understood what was happening. It was just a matter of formalities at this point. Usopp glanced at Luffy whose eyes were shaded from his hat. Usopp took a quick swallow, and held tightened his grip on Black Kabuto. With Zoro and Franky on his side, he was going to have to be faster and not to alert either of them.

Sanji stopped about ten feet from Luffy and exhaled a breath of smoke. He stared right into his captain's eyes. "This is mutiny."

Before anyone could even react, Sanji disappeared.

"Midori Boshi: Devil!" Usopp yelled, narrowly missing Zoro's arm from grabbing him and running straight into the battlefield. Shooting his pop greens near Luffy's location, he smirked as the plants rose from the deck and wrapped themselves around his captain. Usopp could still remember all those years ago when he first challenged Luffy. Things were pretty uneven, but now, perhaps they have a chance now.

During the time it took for the plants to grow, Sanji reappeared behind Luffy and kicked him to the side. However, unlike his normal kicks, this was with Haki With impact, Luffy flew across the ship and hit the railing, just barely being able to hold on and not fall over. . Usopp could feel the rest of the crew tense with the realization that Sanji was serious.

He wanted to scream at them. Of course this was serious. This was their captain's life they were talking about here! However, this was neither the time nor place. All of them will thank them later for all of this. Running over to Sanji, Usopp watched carefully as Luffy twitched slightly.

"Is that clear enough captain?" Sanji asked. "If you want to get to Raftel, you're going to have to get through me and Usopp here."

Luffy leaned against the railing for a few moments. If he had heard what Sanji had said, he made no motions of acknowledgement. Usopp worried that maybe that thought too much into this plan, and all Luffy really needed was a go kick in the head. That normally worked anyways, right?

That hope quickly died when Luffy stood up, and Sanji frowned deepened. Dusting himself off, Luffy settled into a familiar stance. It was a stance all of them were familiar standing behind. It was stance that gave them reassurance and hope. Never did Usopp think he was going to be on the opposite side of it again.

"I am going to be the pirate king," Luffy declared.

"I refuse," Sanji responded. At that, Luffy smirked.

"I refuse your refusal!" he finished and extended his fist. "Gum Gum no Pistol!"

It was a simple attack, but it did its job. Sanji and Usopp were on opposite sides of the deck, and while they had a plan, it was going to be slightly more difficult with them apart like this. Regardless, the fight was still two on one. Even with a monster like Luffy, there was little their captain can do with these numbers.

Jumping in the air, Sanji took advantage of the momentary pause of the battle and cried, "Collier Strike!" In his usual flames, the kick was aimed for the neck. Usopp anticipated for a dodge and readied another pop green in a location he predicted Luffy would land, but there was no jump or dodge or even a scream. Instead, there was a loud thump as Sanji made impact, but Luffy remained still.

His neck was covered in Haki, blocking one of Sanji's most powerful kicks. Luffy's hat was pulled down, and as the smoke disappeared, Luffy smiled.

"GUM GUM NO BELL!" Luffy yelled as he threw Sanji right into Usopp. The two of them went flying across the deck this time. Though unlike Luffy, Sanji and Usopp were just about to run off to the rail.

"Tsk, he's playing us," Sanji commented and he started pulling the two of them up.

"What do you mean?" Usopp asked.

"I declared mutiny, and he hasn't even gone second gear? He thinks we're not worth the effort."

Usopp paused for a moment to think about that. It was true that by this point, Luffy would have at least started with second gear. Not to mention that he was fighting against a member of the monster trio: someone who might equal Luffy in brute strength. That wasn't quite the case though. He didn't even try to dodge the last attack. He just took it and ran with it.

Usopp swallowed hard at the thought of what they were going to need to do. He reached into his pocket to grab another pop green.

"Ready?" Sanji asked.

Usopp pulled on his Black Kabuto.

"Oi!" Luffy yelled from across the deck. He had this dumb smile on his face, as if his crew didn't actually just declare betrayal a few minutes ago. "Are you guys done playing yet?"

"You think this is just a game?" Sanji asked. Usopp stayed still as Sanji jumped into the air. Luffy watched his cook but kept that smile on his face.

"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?" Sanji yelled as he brought another kick to his face.

"Sanji! Hold your breath!" Usopp yelled as he released, "MIDORI BOSHI: RAFFELSIA!"

As expected, Luffy dodged the pop green without much effort, but was still hit by Sanji's attack. Using his face as a springboard, Sanji bounced back, halfway between Usopp and Luffy. As this was happening, a red flower began to bloom. Usopp smiled and began to rush in as Luffy began to move sluggishly.

"MIDORI BOSHI: HUMANDRAKE!"

Sanji took his cue to rush forward again. He was hoping that this would be the last strike, for as much as he wanted to beat some sense into his captain, he was not there to do death's job for them.

"Bien Cult: Grill Shot!" Sanji screamed as he aimed for Luffy's chest. Sanji vaguely heard Usopp cheer on for him, and was so sure that he got it, but cursed when he saw that familiar steam rising from his captain.

"Gear Second," he whispered and Luffy was gone.

"Damn it," Sanji as he landed the hit onto the deck.

"Sanji!" Usopp yelled, and it was only through his own Haki that he was able to dodge the foot aimed for his head.

Sanji could remember the first time Luffy used Gear Second. If left his unable to move and completely dependent on his crew. Hell, Luffy was about to die on Enies Lobby because the idiot could move away. But now, this form was basically Luffy's natural fighting stance.

"Jet Whip!" Luffy yelled, but the hit never came. Usopp had come to rescue but shooting a Tokuyo Abura Boshi onto the floor. Sanji shot Usopp a thumb's up and performed an aerial recovery.

Last night, the two of them planned that they might push Luffy to the point of even fourth gear. They also anticipated that Zoro might try to intervene. Luckily, it was only Gear Second, and Zoro seemed pacified enough to just stay put. However, Luffy was very unpredictable when he was in this form. Not because their captain was some kind of genius planner, but because his speed allowed him to preform a multitude of actions before you even understood what was happening.

Combined with Haki, it makes Luffy almost an unstoppable monster in a multitude of situations. It was lucky that the two of them were monsters in their own right. Sanji knew that in order to combat this, they were going to need to be faster.

"Are you ready for plan B?" Sanji asked.

"Sanji! Usopp! What the hell are you two idiots doing?" Nami yelled. She looked ready that she was going to join in, but in a surprising move, Zoro stopped her. Usopp was vaguely reminded of his own fight with Luffy all those years ago. At least they secured that Zoro was not going to step in.

"Gum Gum…"

"Now!" Sanji yelled.

"Jet Pistol!" An arm reached out for the two of them with the intent to hurt. Usopp sent a small prayer to Franky. Dodging out of the attack's way, the two of them separated and fired their own attacks.

The pattern went on in what seemed like forever. Luffy would attack, Sanji and Usopp would retaliate and then it would switch. The crew on the sidelines momentarily thought about coming and breaking them up, but Zoro was adamant on making them watch. At some points, Chopper tried to escape to treat wounds. Brook found himself looking away: he couldn't bring himself to see a crew fight among themselves.

Chopper even began begging for Zoro to stop the fight.

"Luffy can't do this for much longer Zoro!" their doctor cried, and the whole crew held their breath. Robin could see Zoro knuckles become white, but he remained where he was.

"This is his battle Chopper," Zoro stated, but their doctor continued yelling, insisting that someone needed to do something.

"GEAR FOURTH!" Luffy yelled. Nami looked on to the battle with a heavy heart. Sanji and Usopp, while admirably able to hold their own, they were getting tired. They all understood what it felt like to fight with an inch of your life left. They all understood what it felt to fight for something they fought strongly about.

They also all understood what it meant to lose.

"Usopp Hamer!"

Sanji could almost smile if he wasn't in the worst pain. At this point, Luffy had beaten him with just enough movement to raise his head to watch as Luffy bounced around. The deck was completely destroyed; vines were thrown everywhere, and burn marks on spots where there weren't any holes.

Usopp was just barely standing himself. There nothing he wouldn't give to just be able to lie down and sleep for a little bit. He could hear Chopper screaming for him to stop. He could hear Nami insulting him. However, he could only stare his captain down.

"Why Luffy?" he asked.

"I'm going to be…" Luffy started as he started to wind up his punch. "KING OF THE PIRATES!" But before the punch could land, before Usopp could fully admit defeat, before Sanji could even scream for Usopp to dodge, Zoro finally stepped in.

"Everyone is done here," Zoro declared. Luffy stared at his first mate for a long second, before he nodded and released his form.

"Chopper!" Zoro yelled, and their doctor quickly rushed over to tend over the injuries. Despite the time since developing that technique, Luffy was still worn out from it. Added to the fact that they were so close to Raftel, it probably wasn't a good thing to go into Gear Fourth.

"Hold it!" Sanji yelled, as he tried to push himself up.

"Sanji, just stop. You lost," Nami insisted.

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled, and he stared hard at the first mate.

"How the hell can you call yourself a first mate? Your captain is going to die! How the hell does that even sit right with you?"

Zoro returned the stare. He looked back at his captain and noticed that his captain's hat had disappeared. Finding it, he walked over and picked it up.

"Don't ignore me you marimo!"

"Shut up you curly brow! You don't understand do you? Luffy is going to be the pirate king."

"At the cost of his own life?"

"That's rich coming from you," Zoro commented. "Would you have rather stayed on that shitty restaurant on your's? What about you Usopp? Did you want Luffy to leave you on that small island? Huh? Would you have rather stayed on your small island or wherever you came from without seeing the world?

"Both of you came on this ship knowing that you might die. Both of you came on this ship knowing it was dangerous. You guys both knew the kind of person Luffy was like. Everyone on this ship knows what it means to fight for his or her dream. And here you are trying to go against everything we fought for.

"So what if Luffy is going to die? Is that going to stop you? All of us signed up to get to Raftel, and now all of the sudden you're going to try to get out of it? We fought the World Government knowing that we might not come out alive. That idiot sacrificed his dream so that we could stay together, and now you guys can't even do the same."

And Sanji stared. Both at the first mate and his captain who was currently stabled and resting. Franky had come over at some point to pick him up and carry him to the bedroom. He looked over to Usopp who was crying at the realization Sanji didn't want to admit that he was having. He looked over his two hands: the same ones that he swore he would use to cook for only his friends.

He remembered everything that Luffy gave. His captain didn't have a lot on him, but there was one thing that the world truly wanted from him: his life. And he constantly placed it on the line as a betting chip. He bet his life in order to save his friends. And now Sanji wasn't even willing to bet his family to do the same.

Except for now.

"Goddamnit shitty captain," Sanji cried as tears began flowing down his face. Nami hugged Sanji and Zoro couldn't help but pity the cook.

Robin tended to Usopp, but the Brave Warrior of the Sea demanded that she stopped. She told him that if she didn't do something, some of his wounds would scar. Usopp ignored her. He told her that he needed a reminder of why he was on this trip in the first place.

"You seem to always know what to say, Zoro-san." Brook said as he watched the scene.

"We are and always have been Strawhats first, and friends second," Zoro stated. "It's just the first time in a long time that the two of those titles were separate."

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry about the late update guys! I've been busy with college and then this scene was mainly a fight scene, which is really not my forte.

However, I don't think that it would truly be a Strawhat argument without some kind of violence. The reason why I chose Sanji and Usopp to start the fight rather than someone else is because the two of them are really the voice of reason. Why they do have their weaknesses, Sanji and Usopp (along with Nami) do really understand how to deal with a situation efficiently and effectively. They know that emotions aren't going to work with Luffy because he's too smart for that. If they wanted something done, they were going to have to do it themselves instead of trying to persuade him.

Also, I think that Sanji would probably be the most disturbed about this. After all, Sanji has his self-sacrificing personality. Usopp also has a history. They are not afraid to stand up against their captain, and I think that it's an interesting dynamic to explore.

Thank you so much for your patience and I hope to have the next chapter in the next week or so! Thank you for reading!


	5. Another Step to One Hundred

It only took Luffy a day of sleep and rest before he was up and about on the deck. Sanji and Usopp still maintained huge injuries, but it wasn't enough to keep them to their beds. It was during those final hours before Raftel that the crew came around and finally started thinking with their brains instead of the hearts.

"Luffy," Usopp began as he continued to stare down at the roof. It was the first word spoken by any of them since they all gathered in the room.

"He's going to die, no matter what we do." And the entire crew finally understood what that meant. Either their captain was going to die as a result of some stupid curse given to him by his own name, or they were going to kill him from preventing him to reach his dream.

Some part of Sanji even began hoping that Zoro had some kind of bright idea of how to fix things because that was his job as first mate. The first mate was to make sure that the captain and the crew stayed alive, that nothing bad would happen. However, ever since the swordsman came into the room, he was just cleaning his swords without saying some kind passing insult. Either the man was deep in thought, or he was simply in mourning. Sanji took pity on the poor man for once. He knew more than anyone how seriously Zoro took his role. To assume that kind of responsibility would be enough to break any man.

Sanji couldn't even look at Chopper as their doctor bandaged his wounds with eyes full of tears. His fingers itched for a cigarette, but he didn't want to upset Chopper any more.

"Chopper." Usopp was reaching for straws at this point, but no one was going to blame them for not trying. The reindeer sat in his chair looking out through the window as Luffy looked around for all of them. His back continued to face them as he spoke.

"Sometimes, Usopp," Chopper began through chokes and tears, "some people are just meant to die. No matter what you do, when it's their time, you just have to let go."

They all knew what stress the doctor was going through. Ever since Sabo came by, Chopper had been researching all sorts of cures for their captain. Day in and day out, he would be in his clinic mixing different roots and testing out his new medicines in hope that it would be able to fix everything. He even tried contacting the Heart Pirates for some kind of medical advice, but they have been strangely out of range. For Chopper to admit Luffy's death meant that there was nothing more that they could do besides watch.

"It is a difficult thing to understand, Usopp-san," Brook commented next, his fingers tapping against the wall in a familiar melody. No one bothered to comment. "However, what matters is that you are Luffy-san's friend. As his friends, we must do what we can to support him to the end. Yo ho ho."

Another silence surrounded the group. They all understood what it means to lose a loved one: some were hurt more than others. However, the fact that it was Luffy: the man who looked at death in the eye and did not flinch. This was the man that saved some of them from darkness. This was a man they were sending to his death. There was something twisted in this that some philosopher out there might be able to understand. However, they were not scholars nor were there trying to be.

All they understood was this: every moment spent thinking about their captain placed another lead weight on their hearts.

"Oii! Where is everyone! I'm bored!" the captain screamed from the deck. No one really wanted to go out there. With Raftel a day away, no one really had the strength to look at their dying captain in the eye and not cry.

"Come on! Raftel is only a day away! Why aren't we partying?" However, they all realized that someone was going to need to go or risk a Luffy temper tantrum.

"Damn it. Can't that idiot let us mourn in peace?" Nami growled out, tempted to just shout out the window.

"Chopper," Zoro called out as he placed his swords aside and stood up. "Come on, if we don't do anything, that idiot is going to destroy the ship." Heads turned to Zoro. During the entire fiasco, the first mate had been silently watching the entire thing. It hadn't made any move to do anything since Sabo came. This was probably his first interaction with Luffy since the news.

Chopper looked toward the rest the group for some kind of indication of what he was supposed to do. The doctor didn't really want to go face Luffy, nor did he have a plan to convince him to stay alive for a few more months. However, no one really had an opinion otherwise. He took one last look at Usopp and Sanji, muttered something about not moving, and hopped off his chair to follow Zoro.

The rest of the crew watched silently as they wondered what Zoro was thinking. He had made it clear in the start that he was going to support whatever choice Luffy made, even if it meant death.

"Swordsman-san has been with Luffy since the beginning of their journey, correct?" Robin asked as she moved over to Chopper's spot to watch whatever was going to happen.

"Yup. Somehow those idiots managed to travel the ocean long enough before I signed on as their navigator."

"That's our super captain for you!"

"Super? Please. The only reason why I found them was because Luffy got caught by a bird!"

"Ha ha! I remember that story!"

"What's this? Luffy-san was captured by a bird? I can't believe I haven't heard this one yet!"

"Well you see, Luffy, the idiot that he is-"

Hearing enough, Zoro moved away from the clinic's entrance and began moving toward the deck where Luffy was. It was a good thing too: even he was feeling the gloom from being with everyone for so long. As a first mate, it was his job to make sure that the crew wasn't going to do anything rash. Now that he ensured that, it was finally time to deal with the captain.

At some point, Luffy must have found something to do because he wasn't hearing any trashing or bouncing or anything chaotic happening. Had this been any other time, he would have been relieved. Twelve hours of bed rest has never been a good thing when talking about Luffy's energy. He would be up until dawn unless someone caught him and brought him back to bed.

Strangely enough, Luffy wasn't playing his their treasure or trying to get into the fridge like he normally did when he was bored. Instead, he was on the figurehead of Sunny. Chopper, who was grasping his leg for dear life, peeked out to see what was happening.

Luffy was making some kind of grand gestures to the sky, as if he was telling a story. As Zoro got closer, even he could feel his heart break.

"-and then we went down this giant elephant! This elephant was bigger than that bear that was trying to eat me Ace!"

"Luffy," Zoro called out, unsure if he could hear much more of this.

"Zoro!" Luffy replied as he turned around. He turned his head as if he heard anything, but simply waved the voice away.

"Don't be silly Ace. Zoro wouldn't do something like that." Zoro had the vague impression that the imaginary voice was probably slapping his face in frustration. Zoro smirked. He enjoyed knowing that even in death, Ace still worried about his idiotic little brother.

"Probably. Come here," Zoro beckoned as he walked back to his own personal sitting spot. For no matter how tender this moment was, he was not going to encroach on his captain's space.

"Alright. I'll be back!" Luffy called out as he jumped down. Chopper tugged on Zoro pants to get his attention.

"Zoro, I, I think I see him," Chopper commented. "He looks kind of sad."

"Probably. After all, what kind of big brother wants to see his little brother like this?" Chopper hummed in agreement, but his eyes didn't leave from that spot.

It took just a moment before Luffy caught up with them and started following. Without notice, Luffy began describing some kind of dream he had while he was recovering from the fight. Zoro noticed with amusement how much Luffy spent talking about how strong Sanji and Usopp got since they were separated.

Although the rest of them might never realize, Luffy loved his crew as much as all of them loved him. Zoro knew this, which is why he admired Luffy for his strength through all of this. Their captain knew how much they were hurting because of him. He was hurting too, but he didn't let it show. He couldn't show weakness. If he showed weakness, then his death would mean nothing, and the rest of them would never be able to move on. That was the important part.

Sitting down near the railing like he normally did in the day, Zoro shook Chopper of his leg and placed him in his lap. Luffy sat down next to him, still talking about his dream and about the adventure they were going to have the next day. Out of somewhere, Zoro pulled out a bottle of beer.

"Sake, captain?" Zoro asked playfully. Luffy stopped talking at looked at the bottle thoughtfully.

"Okay!"

"Eh? But Luffy, you hate alcohol!" Chopper objected.

"Hmm? But this is mystery sake!"

"Mystery sake?"

"Yup! You see, sake only tastes good when you have friends and family to share it with," Luffy explained as Zoro poured him a cup and then his own. Chopper looked at the bottle too, but Zoro shook his head, commenting briefly that Chopper was a little too young to understand. They clicked cups and drank it in one shot.

The three of them sat in silence for a little bit. Chopper was still mulling over Luffy words, Zoro enjoying the nice atmosphere at the sky above them, and Luffy smiling over something he was thinking about. After a while, Zoro broke the silence.

"Tomorrow's the day, isn't it captain?"

"Mm, probably. I don't know yet."

"Don't know?"

"Ace was telling me something. It doesn't happen right away, and it doesn't make it obvious. It's something really confusing because Ace is an idiot and can't really talk well," Luffy laughed and scratched his head mysteriously, as if something had hit him.

"You can still talk to Ace?" Chopper asked.

"What do you mean? Ace is always with me," Luffy explained, "we're brothers!" And then, after a moment's thought, "like you and me Chopper!"

"We're brothers?"

"Sure! We're Nakama! Nakama don't leave each other, like how brothers don't leave each other. Yeah, sometimes we're not always together, but that's how we found each other again after two years, right?" Luffy laughed as if he heard something funny. Zoro continued drinking the bottle of sake with a smile on his face.

"How's that Chopper? Your brother is the Pirate King," Zoro commented, and smiled as he saw the doctor's eyes light eye in how cool that title was. He almost began laughing when Chopper realized that he was the Pirate King's doctor as well. Luffy began laughing with him with glee.

The three of them looked like idiots laughing about stupid things like this. However, it was a nice change. The crew wasn't the only one affected by the dreary mood on the ship. Most were blind to it, but Luffy was heavily affected by the dark mood. It was like a weight lifted off his chest with every giggle.

Zoro always knew what to do. That was his true job as the first mate. His second job was something he would take less readily. He eyed the straw hat with slight animosity and hope that it would never appear on his head or neck.

At some point, Chopper grew tired from laughing and eventually sobered up. He suddenly remembered the fact that he was supposed to be insisting that Luffy shouldn't go to Raftel. However, sitting here with his captain and Zoro, Chopper finally understood what everyone in the clinic was finally beginning to understand. This was simply where Luffy needs to be. It's where his captain wants to be. So instead of fighting and arguing like he was initially going to do, Chopper opened his arms for a hug. Luffy smiled and wrapped his arms around his little doctor. Chopper held back tears and gripped a little longer than he planned.

He let go, and waved the two of them good night. Luffy waved back and yelled, "Don't forget Chopper! Tomorrow I'm going to be the pirate king!" and Zoro will never forget the look of pride Chopper had on his face.

The two of them went silent after that. Neither them mentioned the sudden ear that appeared on the wall beside them. Luffy didn't really care, and Zoro knew that the crew had to hear this.

"Luffy, when you leave – "

"I want Sanji to be captain." Zoro had to physically stop himself from reacting at the name. He almost puked at the thought that he was going to have to serve under that love cook.

"That pervert?"

"Yup! Sanji still has to find the All-Blue. That means he has a destination, right?" Luffy reasoned.

Well, he couldn't really argue with that kind of logic. After all, the rest of the crew still had pretty broad goals. Sanji's was the only one with any real destination with it. Plus, with all the Vinsmoke stuff, it was quite clear that the cook has a good mind to protect the crew while also protecting himself. Zoro fought to find some kind of way out of this, but he was stuck.

"…Fine," Zoro settled, a frown still on his face. "But make him get some cooking lessons before he takes the mantel, alright?"

"Shi shi shi," Luffy chuckled, and the two of them could hear a thump from the clinic. That was enough for Zoro at least to accept his future punishment.

"What about you Zoro?" Luffy asked.

"What about?"

"What are you going to do when," Luffy struggled to find the right words. Zoro found it funny that a man so accepting of his fate found it hard to express it as well. "when I go I guess."

Zoro tilted his head back. To be honest, he hadn't really been thinking that far yet. He has always thought in the present, and that he would deal with the issue when the time came. However, he was going to plan now. From Luffy's words, there's really no telling when it was going to happen. So when he it does happen, he needed to make sure the rest of them were going to be prepared.

"Stay here I guess," Zoro finally answered, liking how that sounded. It has been too long since he was a free roaming sword. It would be too weird to go straight back to it.

"Really?"

"Wouldn't look too good if the world's strongest swordsman let his captain's title be taken by some weakling, right?" Luffy laughed at that, and Zoro could sense the smallest amount of relief in it. The two of them continued on like that. Both of them laughed at some kind of stupid comment one of them made before they continued talking. At some point, the crew in the clinic had also retired, feeling a little better than when Zoro left. He assumed that the fact that Sanji was going to be captain shocked them a little more than they could handle.

Tomorrow was going to be an annoying day; he could just feel it.

"Thanks Zoro," Luffy said.

"For what, you idiot captain?" Zoro retorted back, but was surprised when his captain was fast asleep against his shoulder. For a moment, Zoro thought he saw a small flame appear in the corner of his eye, right on the figurehead. However, it must have disappeared as soon as it appeared. Looking at the bottle of booze in his hand, Zoro decided that it was time to go to sleep.

Picking up Luffy, he looked out to the sea again. Just in sights was the mysterious island known as Raftel. The one destination they all have been looking for. It was finally here, and there was no going back.

And despite how everyone might be feeling now, they probably wouldn't want to either.

* * *

At morning, the crew was up and about. After all, there was an adventure that was going to happen. Robin helped Nami mark out specific landmarks they were to look for. Usopp went to the crow's nest to see if he could see anything of interests. Sanji packed lunches and enough food for the trip. Brook and Franky helped packed bags. Chopper prepared a few rumble balls and some medicines. And Zoro slept on.

"ZORO!" Luffy yelled in his ear.

"What do you want?"

"Island!"

"Uh, is that a giant monkey guys? Oh no, I think I'm coming down with my can't-go-on-the-island disease again."

"Ahh! Usopp! I'll help you!"

"Wait Chopper! I'm just kid-!'

"Super! We're going to head out!"

And Zoro watched as the crew worked together. He especially watched Luffy who seemed delighted to have his crew back again. Picking up his swords that he polished for this one occasion, Zoro changed his clothes and walked out on deck.

"'bout time you came up, first mate," Sanji snickered. Zoro was about to punch that smug face off the cook's face when Luffy yelled.

"I'M GOING TO BE THE PIRATE KING!"

And even though those words reminded them of the three days prior, and even though those words scared all of them more than it should, all of them raised their arms in the air and screamed as well. Their captain was going to be the pirate king. Luffy made fate bend to his will, and there was going to be very little that was going to stop him now.

His crew was going to make sure of that.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm so sorry about how late this is. However, I just finished school, got started with my internship, and finally found time to finish this up. The epilogue should be coming right after this, so please look forward to that. Thank you everyone for reading the story and putting up with my writing ability.

As a note for the chapter, I like the more tender side of Zoro. I always find Zoro to be the more perceiving out of all the crew members. He would always considered how other people are going to react to his actions. Which is why Zoro is so quiet in all of this. He knows that fighting it would hurt Luffy, and the best way is to do what his captain wants. This way, everyone will eventually be happy. That's what he signed up to do, and that is what he is going to do.

Also, the reason why I picked Sanji as captain is that to me, the captain picks the destination. What is Nami going to do? Pick a random place? A lot of the crew dreams are passive goals, as a result of the captain. Sanji has a great big dream of finding a mythical place, like Luffy. It makes sense for Luffy to pick him because it would give his crew more direction. Also, it's kind of different than everything else, which makes it kind of cool to do.

Finally, I love Chopper. His backstory was the first one I actually cried at. He knows death intimately as a doctor and through his past. As someone picking medicine as a career, I really relate to Chopper and racked my brain as to what to have him do. While he didn't give up per say, I think he understood as a doctor what was going to happen.

Please stay tuned for the epilogue!


	6. Epilogue: And We'll Walk it Again

It was a journey that practically seemed unbelievable to anyone outside of the Strawhat crew. If you asked any of them for the story, you will get a different story each time, but at the same time, they were all true. There were some who still insisted that the Strawhat crew were a crew of liars hoping to get their ten minutes of fame.

However, those who were pirates, marines, and other children of the sea knew. When the Sunny Go was on the ocean, it was as if the waves changed their course to ensure it safe travels. Luffy was the true pirate king. That didn't really change many things though.

The Strawhat crew still managed to make messes out of corrupt kingdoms and free prisoners out of high security prisons. At one point, they even managed to make copies of the lost history and distributed to anyone who would listen. The World Government was going mad. The only difference is that when allies spotted the Strawhats, there was almost always a party to be had.

For a long time, the Strawhat crew began to believe that perhaps that they were worrying for nothing. Sabo sent his congratulations through news coo, and a secret thank you for the crew. They were smiling. If there was anyone that was going to beat this curse, it was the Strawhat crew.

And then word got out that Trafalgar D. Water Law died in a marine battle to protect his crew.

The Strawhat Fleet accompanied the Heart Pirates on their journey back to the North Blue. Few marine ships were able to make it through the fleet, and those that did were promptly destroyed. Rumors had it that some kind of deadly aura encompassed the ships that made anyone faint once they got close to it. Those that were knowledgeable enough knew that the aura they felt was the misery of one pirate captain.

The funeral was a melancholy affair until Luffy decided he was tired of being sad and declared that Torao would have wanted everyone to be partying instead of crying over him. Although the Heart Pirates did not think that their captain would every say something like that, they happily welcomed the distraction. At some point, Robin had brought the crew aside to explain to them what they understood to be the curse of D. And while they did not like it, they were happy to know that the captain his final time here to protect them. They were insistent on not letting their captain's sacrifice to go to waste and continue on living like he would want them to. It just happens to be that Luffy's translation was a great big party.

The entire fleet partied for days until none of them could remember why they were sad in the first place. They celebrated their captain and all of his feats. They shared stories of how they all met, the bad things about their captain, the good things about their captain, and just all the times they all shared with him. Luffy especially shared in the festivities, saying that Torao was happy that they finally got themselves togethers. At one point, Bepo started crying for some reason, and the Strawhat crew understood.

After a week of partying, the crew dispersed. Bepo was named captain to continue carrying on the Heart Pirates name. A stone was raised in Law's honor, and some treasure was set aside to build a hospital on islands that had less advanced facilities. Chopper wished all of them luck, and they carried on.

In the back of the Strawhat's mind, they wondered when it was going to be their turn.

Then they continued. At some point, the straw hat migrated to Sanji's cot, but he refused to wear it until he had to. No one really wanted to notice, but they all saw that Luffy was beginning to get tired more often. They knew that the time was coming, but none of them knew how to prepare for it.

Then a Marine boat came by and had them cornered.

"We have you now!" Coby yelled from his ship. Luffy laughed at how big Coby looked now. He was laughing so much that he hardly noticed himself falling into the ocean. Zoro was about to jump after him, but Coby beat him to the punch. Brook would have argued that it was no mistake. Whatever anyone thought, the pirate king was caught.

Sanji, taking on his future role, ordered for a coup de burst. Franky objected, but one look from Sanji revealed who was being captain now. Nodding, the Sunny Go ejected from the scene, and Luffy couldn't help but smiled.

"Your- your crew left you Luffy-san," Coby observed, amazed at the lack of loyalty.

"Mm," Luffy responded. "You got really strong Coby!"

"Luffy-san," Coby said, and then ordered for the Pirate King to be restrained.

The news was spread immediately. Luffy's death was to happen in three days times. Three days for the remaining World Government to bear witness. Three days for the allies to come together and ruin things. It was a gamble.

And if there was one thing pirates were good at: it was tipping the odds in their favor.

Hours before the execution with Luffy at the execution stand, and his grandfather at his side, the breech made itself known. Somehow, the entire Strawhat Fleet and all of those who have made themselves allies have made it into Mariejois. The Whitebeard Pirates, the Heart Pirates, the entire fighting kingdom of Alabasta, and many more have broken in and defeated half the staff.

Luffy was laughing when one of those funny-looking Celestial Dragon came in with the news. Another hour later, the Sunny Go could be seen in the distance.

"Oi! You shitty captain! You better not be gone just yet!" Sanji yelled, and Luffy laughed as he saw his crew come after him. Coby breathed a sigh of relief.

"Shi shi shi, you're pretty funny Coby," Luffy laughed and then yelled back a reply. He watched as his crew fight their way back to him. It brought back memories of all those years ago at Loguetown. It almost hurt him when he saw his friends get slashed down, but he couldn't swallow the pride he felt when they came back up and continued fighting.

And just when it seemed like things were becoming a hopeless battle, the Revolutionary ship appeared in sight.

"Is that my shitty son?" Garp asked as he stood up.

"Luffy!"

"Sabo!" Luffy was so happy that he got to see Sabo one last time. Garp had left the stand, but unlike the last time a high profile execution was scheduled, Luffy was not left alone. Everyone was here now.

It was time.

"You think you won Mugiwara?" the executioner asked. "I'm not like the last guy who killed your brother. I'm not going to wait."

"Is that right?" Luffy asked, and then he looked out at the scene. Sanji and the rest were all so close. However, he closed his eyes, and he knew.

"Hey! Everyone!" and for some reason, people listened.

"Everyone! Thank you! I got to be the Pirate King because of you guys, and that's the best thing that has ever happened. I got to go on a lot of cool adventures, eat a lot of great meals, and meet some really awesome people. I got to sail across the entire world, and I was finally free from everything. All of that was probably the best time of my life." Luffy frowned. "Everyone, I'm sorry. But again, everyone, thank you!"

There was a minute pause, and then Luffy looked at the executioner.

"Oi, didn't you say you weren't going to wait?"

"Wait! Luffy! Don't go antagonizing that guy!"

"WAIT!"

And it was a single marine's yell that echoed in the royal battlefield of the marines. All heads were turned.

"Did you really find it? The One Piece?"

"What? Are you stupid? Of course! I'm the pirate king after all."

"Well? What did you do with it?"

At that, Luffy began laughing for a long time. Once he managed to stop, Luffy looked at the man straight in the eyes. "Ace was right about his old man, you know! He was kind of an idiot! Why did he hide all that treasure on some stupid island? I gave the One Piece to my crew. If you want it, you're going to have to get through them!" Luffy laughed again. His laugh echoed through the battlefield, and those that were close enough to the lucky nine, could tell you that they wore the worst shit-eating grin you will ever lay your eyes on.

Then the laughter stopped, and for a moment, time stopped as well.

What came after has never been fully accounted for. However, based on the stories, the revolutionary army began their strike. Those who could see would tell you that a fiery dragon emerged on the ship taking down hundreds in a single blow. The Strawhats, in what they perceived in mourning, launched a full out attack that defeated every marine admiral in sight. In a matter of minutes, the World Government was defeated.

The government never retrieved the body of Mugiwara Luffy. The Strawhats would not let them have that right. Rumors state that his body is resting in the sea where he belongs and a shrine is erected in his honor at his hometown, wherever that is. Marines have searched Goa and Windmill village several times, but never found anything. They attempted to search the forests as well, but the wildlife and rumors of dangerous mountain bandits always warded them off.

The body of one Monkey-Portgas D. Sabo was never found either. He had died shortly after the Revolutionary Army claimed Mariejois in the name of the people. Months later, it was announced that Monkey D. Dragon had also died in his sleep. At that point, Garp finally took his promotion, and while he guarded the seas with a fierceness never seen in another fleet admiral, the position was shortly given to Coby following his death.

There are rumors saying that the Strawhats still exist in some capacity, but their activity has been off the radar since the death of Mugiwara Luffy. Some state that they have gone their separate ways. Others say they are still in the search of the All-Blue. Other say they died in the fight alongside their captain.

However, one true mystery surrounds the Strawhat pirates, and that's where they have hidden the One Piece. Even to this day, the legend of the One Piece by the Strawhats has encouraged a new generation of pirates. New hopefuls of finding word of where this legendary treasure might be. Legend states that he who finds the One Piece will be the –

"Pirate King!"

The storyteller paused in her story, and looked out in the crowd. She smiled when she saw the familiar face raise his hand in the air.

"Sit down! Only a pirate can be the pirate king, you doofas."

"Then I'm going to be a pirate someday!"

"Stupid. Pirates aren't real, so that means this story is fake!"

"Lame." "Why don't you tell the story about Noland?" "Or the story about the Loooong Island?"

"Shut up! Pirates are real, and one day, I'm going to be the pirate king too!"

"Is that so?" the storyteller got up, and walked over. Walking over to the young boy, she kneeled down stared him down. The boy got slightly nervous by the close proximity, but he did not lose ground.

"Good, you have a good heart. Here, have this. I think this might be useful, Pirate King-san." Pulling off the familiar bracelet off her wrist, she wrapped it around the boy's arm.

"What is this? It's kind of itchy," the boy asked as he poked at the glass sphere on top of the straw strap.

"Keep it safe, okay? That paper inside the ball is going to guide you to your dreams."

"What?"

"Ms. Robin! Please tell another story! It's almost dinner time!"

"Okay okay, but just one more okay?" Robin took another look at the young boy who was still staring at bracelet she had given him. Over the years, her crew had always teased her for being the hardest person to please. However, she simply wasn't looking at the right people. Who knew it would be a kid who would carry one of the keys to the most legendary treasure of them all?

"I hope you don't mind captain-san," Robin said the air as she walked back to her chair. "I think I found your successor."

And the balance that was so perfectly aligned since the last pirate war began to shift every so slightly. She had set another on the path she and so many have walked before. There will be tears, and hearts broken near the end, but as long as they can remember the times they had along the way, it would have been worth it.

* * *

 **A/N:** Final Stats:

45 pages on Word

21958 words.

I am so happy about this. This is definitely one of my longest projects I have ever done. And while I am rushing to upload this in a library, I want to thank everyone who has been reading and supporting me. I love you all, and I hope that I have responded to all of your reviews. If not, please let me know and I will personally thank you.

I hope to see you all soon. Thank you again for reading. I will be in the OP reversebang 2016 and hope to see you there.


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